Political Science Commons^™

Health, Politics, And Policy: Exploring The Interplay Of Health Status On Voting Behavior And Policy Knowledge Across Political Parties In The United States, Zoey Peters

Honors Theses

ABSTRACT

ZOEY LYNN PETERS: Health, Politics, and Policy: Exploring the Interplay of Health Status on Voting Behavior and Policy Knowledge Across Political Parties in the United States

(Under the direction of Dr. Hannah Allen)

Background. Citizens actively engaging with their politics and government is crucial for the survival of our democracy. Voting and policy knowledge are two significant indicators of citizen engagement and there are many factors that can affect whether people will vote or stay informed on relevant policy. The healthcare system in the United States is a constant topic of controversy in American politics and it impacts every …

From Mobilization To Politicization: Understanding Political Dynamics Of Community-Based Urban Food Security Policy In City Of Makassar, Sudarmono Sudarmono

Jurnal Wacana Politik

Since decentralization was reinforced in 1999, local politicians have exploited local policies to enhance their popularity and electability. In this study, I describe the implementation of a food security policy to demonstrate how the local arena had undergone massive political dynamics through unintegrated food governance demonstrated by local governments in Makassar City. This article aims to analyze the dynamic of urban food policy implemented by the municipality from 2013 to 2023. A qualitative approach had been employed through a case study of the implementation of food security policy. Data were collected by snowball method to eminent informants. Also, focus group …

Breaking The Green Ceiling: A Study On The Impact Of State Legislatures' Gender Representation On The Implementation Of Environmental Policy, Isabelle Mcgill

Honors Theses

As the significance of climate change and other environmental issues escalates, it becomes imperative for lawmakers to address these pressing challenges. At the same time, our country is slowly electing more women to office, and legislatures are becoming more representative of their constituencies. In my research, I investigate whether greater gender representation influences the adoption of environmental policies in the context of U.S. state legislatures. The study begins by examining descriptive representation and its relationship to substantive representation, highlighting how the presence of women in legislative offices can impact policy outcomes. Drawing on research that shows a gender gap between …

A Big Voice In A Small Democracy: Three Papers On American Local Politics, Lucas Boschelli

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

An individual's greatest political voice is often within America's smallest democracies. Through three papers, this dissertation explores three key dimensions of political participation within America's local governments: representation, evaluation, and coverage. The first paper explores the question of whether a more accessible local government is a more representative one. By leveraging the switch to online meetings induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, I analyze whether the shift to more accessible meetings promotes healthy democratic participation or amplifies pre-existing inequities in local political participation. To accomplish this, I first construct a novel dataset of public meeting minutes from 2018 until 2022 for …

Recidivism In Mississippi: Causes, Impacts, And Solutions, Grace E. Brian

Honors Theses

Because the United States is home to the largest prison population in the world, finding solutions to reduce the rate at which prisoners return to prison is paramount to helping reduce crime. Assessments of how Mississippi, the state with the highest incarceration rate, engages with access to prison education, barriers to employment, and youth incarceration compared to the national, Southern, and non-southern averages will be explored to direct recidivism reduction solutions. Results showed that Mississippi had a slightly higher recidivism rate than the national average, had fewer barriers to employment, and a lower youth incarceration rate than the national average …

Activism And Stress, Ashanti Laine T. Peredo, Taylor Gayton, Lalaine Sevillano

Student Research Symposium

Black women often shoulder a heavier burden of financial, social, and physical responsibilities within their families compared to non-Black individuals who do not identify as women. This increased load contributes significantly to mental health disorders and psychological distress and well as physical disparities. When compounded with experiences of racism and sexism, these responsibilities can lead to a sense of social invisibility and foster a tendency towards stoicism. This study is a mixed method study as it aims to quantitatively examine the relationship between activism, physical wellbeing measured by the Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity (CTRA), and psychological wellbeing among Black …

Climate Change And Environmental Crises In Coastal Cities: Charleston Vs New York City, Nolan Rodriguez

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper addresses the increasing vulnerability that coastal communities face regarding climate crises and rising sea levels. Specifically, this paper investigates the environmental crises facing Charleston, South Carolina, and New York City. The geographical location of these cities places a more severe threat upon their environment, as opposed to urban collectives removed from the immediate effect of rising sea levels. A cross-examination of politics and economics is discussed in order to determine the causal relationship of each city’s engagement with its surrounding environment. This paper examines how each city is affected by climate change, what measures are in place to …

Essays On Censorship And Public Opinion In Authoritarian Regimes, Zirui Yang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Conventional wisdom has long regarded censorship as a top-down, repressive tool for authoritarian governments to suppress political criticism and maintain regime stability, and therefore unpopular among the public. This dissertation proposes a novel normalization theory and presents various pieces of empirical evidence to challenge these conventional understandings of censorship and public opinion in authoritarian regimes. In the first chapter, I introduce the normalization theory and claim that the Chinese public does not necessarily perceive online censorship as repressive but as a normal part of Internet governance. Drawing from around 28 million censored posts on social media and two survey experiments, …

The Age Of Ai: Why The European Union Was The First To Regulate Artificial Intelligence, Sabrina Richards

Political Science and International Relations: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The implications of the transformative and unknown nature of emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies raise important questions in current conversations in the international realm. The potential danger of AI calls for regulation, but the regulation of private technological endeavors is uncharted territory. However, on March 13, 2024, the European Union (EU) successfully passed legislation about the technology, titled the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act). Thus, what explains why the European Union has been the first to successfully pass legislation on Artificial Intelligence? This research demonstrates that such legislation passed because of the European Union’s Socioeconomic capacity, its …

Too Little, Too Late: The Icc And The Politics Of Prosecutorial Procrastination In Georgia, Marco Bocchese

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

In August 2008, just days after belligerent parties had reached a ceasefire agreement, the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) announced the opening of a preliminary examination into the situation of Georgia. Yet, it was only in March 2022 that International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants in relation to three individuals from Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia. That said, how can such prolonged inaction be accounted for? How much blame does the OTP carry for it? And how did ICC-state relations develop over time? This paper conducts a within-case analysis of the situation of …

The Political Intervention On Government Officials’ Promotion In Indonesia, Ella Lesmanawaty Wargadinata

Jurnal Wacana Politik

The promotion government officials comes into new era, the new policy reversed from a very closed selection process and heavily seniority-based to open, clear criteria, transparent procedures on the competency-based series test. In fact, policy implementation is not fully in favour of an administration driven. The study has two main research problems “How open promotion for local government officers conducted?” and “How does political intervention work in the open promotion mechanism?”. This paper provides comprehensive mechanism-the hybrid administration-politics model on open promotion of local bureaucrats in Indonesia. The study used a qualitative approach and assited by Nvivo 12 to reveal …

Indonesia’S Responses Towards Rohingya Refugees: Political Perspective, Ujang Komarudin, Dinda Ayuningtyas

Jurnal Wacana Politik

Rohingya refugees, originating from Myanmar, face significant challenges in Southeast Asia due to official non-recognition and systemic discrimination. Many seek refuge in neighboring countries like Indonesia. Employing qualitative research methods and an extensive literature review, this study investigates Indonesia’s responses to the Rohingya crisis from a political perspective. Additionally, building upon conflict resolution theory, it emphasizes the importance of dialogue, mediation, and compromise in addressing intricate crises. Furthermore, it explores concepts such as humanitarian diplomacy and regionalism, elucidating Indonesia’s role within ASEAN-led mechanisms. The research reveals key findings, showing Indonesia’s active participation in diplomatic initiatives addressing the Rohingya crisis, both …

Unveiling The Political Impact Of Fast Fashion Consumption: The Role Of Lower Middle Class In Environmental Crisis In Indonesia?, Vellayati Hajad, Herizal Herizal, Ikhsan Ikhsan, Deni Setiawan

Jurnal Wacana Politik

This article delves into the impact and role of the lower middle class on Indonesia’s environmental landscape. Despite their social and economic marginalization, this demographic heavily relies on cheap, easily accessible fast fashion for clothing, leading to detrimental environmental consequences such as ecosystem degradation and pollution. This research was carried out by conducting a literature review through library research, where the data came from library data collection. This study further analyzes literature regarding socio-economic dynamics and environmental problems. This approach unveiled the lower middle class’s profound influence of fast fashion consumption on Indonesia’s environment. The research highlights the lower middle …

Professionalism Of The Indonesian Armed Forces: New, Old, Or Hybrid Professionalism?, Shinjiro Yabuki

Jurnal Wacana Politik

This paper examines the special characteristics of the military professionalism of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (Tentara National Indonesia, TNI). TNI, which once held strong political power during the Suharto era, was transformed into a professional military that follows the principle of civilian supremacy and has not been involved in politics since its military reform in 1998. It seems to have changed from a military of new professionalism that dominates the politics of the nation, to a military of old professionalism that focuses purely on defence missions. However, the TNI’s missions are not limited to national defence, as it also …

Analysis Of Soft Power Pillars And Power Systems In The Republic Of India, Lucille Sugarman

COD Library Student Research and Award Symposium

The Republic of India has increased its global influence in the twenty-first century, largely due to the continual augmentation of the country's power systems. This paper explores different facets of power and questions the value of soft power. Hard power, soft power, and smart power will be defined respectively; each of these concepts will then be applied to an explanation of the impact of different soft power pillars in India.

Faculty Sponsor: Professor David Goldberg

Using Digital Twins To Protect Biomanufacturing From Cyberattacks, Brenden Fraser-Hevlin, Alec W. Schuler, B. Arda Gozen, Bernard J. Van Wie

Military Cyber Affairs

Understanding of the intersection of cyber vulnerabilities and bioprocess regulation is critical with the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning in manufacturing. We detail a case study in which we model cyberattacks on network-mediated signals from a novel bioreactor, where it is important to control medium feed rates to maintain cell proliferation. We use a digital twin counterpart reactor to compare glucose and oxygen sensor signals from the bioreactor to predictions from a kinetic growth model, allowing discernment of faulty sensors from hacked signals. Our results demonstrate a successful biomanufacturing cyberattack detection system based on fundamental process control principles.

Characterizing Advanced Persistent Threats Through The Lens Of Cyber Attack Flows, Logan Zeien, Caleb Chang, Ltc Ekzhin Ear, Dr. Shouhuai Xu

Military Cyber Affairs

Effective cyber defense must build upon a deep understanding of real-world cyberattacks to guide the design and deployment of appropriate defensive measures against current and future attacks. In this abridged paper (of which the full paper is available online), we present important concepts for understanding Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), our methodology to characterize APTs through the lens of attack flows, and a detailed case study of APT28 that demonstrates our method’s viability to draw useful insights. This paper makes three technical contributions. First, we propose a novel method of constructing attack flows to describe APTs. This abstraction allows technical audiences, …

City Of Winona Comprehensive Plan 2045: Winona, Minnesota, City Of Winona-Minnesota

City of Winona Planning Documents

This is the City of Winona, Minnesota's Comprehensive Plan through 2045. This plan surveying and drafting began in 2021 and the final plan was completed and approved by the Winona City Council in 2024. The comprehensive plan sections are:

• Introduction
• Vision
• Community Engagement
• Land Use & Development
• Homes & Neighborhoods
• Economic Development
• Accessible Government
• Heritage Preservation
• Downtown and River Front
• Parks, Open Space, and Recreation System Plan
• Transportation
• Arts & Culture
• Environment & Sustainability
• Community Services & Institutions
• Influential Projects
• Implementation
• Appendices

This is a City of Winona, Minnesota document.

Commercial Enablers Of China’S Cyber-Intelligence And Information Operations, Ethan Mansour, Victor Mukora

Military Cyber Affairs

In a globally commercialized information environment, China uses evolving commercial enabler networks to position and project its goals. They do this through cyber, intelligence, and information operations. This paper breaks down the types of commercial enablers and how they are used operationally. It will also address the CCP's strategy to gather and influence foreign and domestic populations throughout cyberspace. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for mitigating the influence of PRC commercial enablers.

Media Censorship’S Development In The Information Age: Authoritarian Case Studies In Europe During The 20th And 21st Centuries, Carter R. Linke

Honors Thesis

The Information Age has dramatically changed how people consume information. With the availability of smart devices and the Internet greater than ever before, a population’s ability to receive multiple news reports and instant messaging has continued to prove beneficial to democratic societies. With these same technology improvements, authoritarian governments have been forced to adapt censorship policies to eliminate the Information Age’s push towards the free press. Since the 20^th century, authoritarian countries have introduced policy solutions to the growing connectivity across the globe. From the German Holocaust to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, censorship has aimed to control their …